Bryan Singer may direct a new Red Sonja movie

We had a Red Sonja movie back in 1985 starring Brigitte Nielsen, and ever since then, there has been talk of bringing another one to the big screen. Over the years various actors and directors have been attached – I think Rose McGowan and Robert Rodriguez were the last ones to be mentioned if memory serves.

Now it seems that Bryan Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns) is in talks to direct the film for Millennium. Ashley Miller, who wrote X-Men: First Class (which Singer produced), is writing the screenplay, according to THR.

However, in recent years Singer has had various accusations thrown at him, and he was fired by Fox after repeatedly not showing up for work on the set of its Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, among other work-related offences.

Millennium is willing to take a chance on Singer given that “none of the allegations seem to have merit,” says an insider.

First of all, I am not sure whether Singer is the right director to make a Red Sonja movie. Usual Suspects is brilliant, but since then I have found his films largely disappointing. The X-Men films were initially great to watch, but don’t really hold up with repeated viewings.

I am all for giving people second chances, but when you are trying to get a film up and running, that has been in development hell for over a decade, is it the best idea to get someone who has been in the news for the wrong kind of reasons? Well, it’s got us talking about I suppose. It just feels like an odd choice.

Red Sonja is a fictional character, a sword-and-sorcery comic-book heroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially based on Robert E. Howard’s character Red Sonya of Rogatino.